DARTMOUTH – There will no longer be provincial championship tournaments at the end of the minor hockey season.

Instead, provincial tournaments will be replaced by the creation of a Day of Champions event that will see the top team in the North Conference play the top team in the South Conference to declare a provincial championship.

Hockey Nova Scotia announced the change at its annual general meeting in Dartmouth on Sunday.

The change is being made to cut down on travel costs for families.

“These changes are all about reducing the cost of minor hockey for families across Nova Scotia and making the game more accessible for our young players,” says Hockey Nova Scotia President Randy Pulsifer.

This is one of several changes the hockey organization announced. Other changes include:

- Minor hockey associations now have option to have multiple teams at all divisions of B level hockey.

- Renaming of all House League/Recreational hockey as C-level hockey and more options to play it.

- Creation of C-level female hockey.

- Removal of atom AAA hockey, something that has been done in many other provinces including New Brunswick.

- Options for minor hockey associations to have multiple teams at AA and A Levels

The changes were recommended by Hockey Nova Scotia’s Structural Review Committee. The committee was established by Pulsifer in August 2012 and asked to review the minor and female hockey structure with a focus on safety, travel, cost, player development, recruitment and retention.

The new changes are designed to align with Hockey Canada’s Long Term Player Development Model. With the elimination of the AAA designation at the atom level, a greater focus will be placed on the skill development of players.

“Having one less level of hockey in atom will also allow our smaller and more rural associations to have teams at levels that they can compete in and have more local competition with less travel and reduced costs,” said Pulsifer.

For the first time, larger minor hockey associations will have the opportunity to have more than one team at the various levels which will allow for players to play where their skillset places them.

The creation of the Day of Champions event will replace costly provincial championships at some of the lower levels of midget, bantam, peewee and atom hockey. This will allow players and teams to play a longer season in their region instead of traveling to provincial play-down games.